Star Crossed
by Year of the dog
Summary: A forbidden love, such is that which brings tragedies to fruition. As Juliet was forced to lose her Romeo, will the tragedy plague the two of us as well.  P3  FeMC x Ryouji/Spoilers until the end of November


_Ah, I never thought I would willingly admit it, but I'm glad Atlus decided to redo P3 with a female protagonist. After acquiring P3P and beating it twice in a matter of possibly only a week, I have come to the conclusion that it makes me cry far more than the original did. Maybe I'm just a sap. But I digress. With the arrival of P3P comes the arrival of many more fic ideas that I decided needed to be written. This was only one of many. It has been decided that for FeMC, cannon names were Hamuko or Minako, neither of which I took a particular shine to. So with the one's I write, she's going to have a name of my choosing; for people who dislike this I am sorry, but I honestly don't think those fit her. Now I labeled this as Tradegy, simply because of what it implicates, and what inevitably happens in the story. Some of you may think it misleading, though I honestly believe it fits. In any case, forgive me for the unnaturally long introduction, most of which doesn't even really apply to the actual fic. I hope you enjoy it, and please tell me what you think._

Disclaimer: Now I have made it clear I don't own the original, which goes to show that there is very little chance I would own P3P now is there. Nor does this make me any more likely to own the story of Romeo and Juliet, or the quote that goes with it.

**Star Crossed**

A forbidden love? Maybe what he said was really true.

After Ryouji had left, long after when it would have been proper, she had been left alone with her thoughts. Arisato Riichi wasn't one to dwell on things like this, but for some reason he had always been able to arouse this within her. Perhaps it had been because she got the same feeling from him as she did from Shinji. The feeling of life ebbing away, the feeling of something precious being destroyed. And while Shinjirou had become a good friend -such a dear friend that it gave her physical pain every time she thought of him, lying alone in that pure white hospital room- he had never been able to make her think this seriously.

There had always been a sense of nostalgia, one that he shared as well. A fact made obvious by his body language and all the probing, longing stares she always met. From the beginning she was assaulted by feelings that she herself had never thought she could have. When they talked it was a rush of excitement, a wave of relief, and such a feeling of calmness that it made her want to cry. It was like a lost love had come back to her.

He had called her a princess once. Said that she had been his princess for the day. While normally she would have been irritated with these playboy comments directed at her, for some reason she had felt such an intense giddiness that it had almost bubbled up and spilled out. His princess? If she could have been that she felt she would have been the happiest girl alive. That thought alone had surprised her. She wasn't one to think like that.

It wasn't until the school trip that she realized she was in love. Kyoto might not have been that eventful, but it had at least given her that.

Riichi figured it was inevitable that she would fall so hard for this boy. Everything he did caught her attention, everything he said held her captivated. They flowed so well together, as if they had always been one in the same. It was actually somewhat alarming at how comfortable he was to be with.

When he had come up that day, spent almost all day in her room with her, she had almost gone mad. It had felt so right for them to be together, like there wasn't any other place they should be, any other people they should be with. It had made her so happy she had cried.

But he had said it was painful. So painful that his voice had caught and he had made her assure him that he was alive. For some reason she had needed the assurance as well.

Riichi bit her lip and curled her right leg to her chest. He had left her with promises that she was the only one; there could never be anyone else. But he had also left with the feeling that everything would come crashing down around them. They had both held that feeling inside them, he had merely been the one to vocalize it.

A forbidden love? Were those things even possible nowadays? In the context that they found themselves?

She couldn't fathom why it was that they shouldn't be together; when something felt this right, how was it that it shouldn't be allowed? Riichi reminded herself that everything surrounding her was unfathomable and unrealistic, but this only brought back the fact that he wasn't a part of all that.

She bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood. Why did it feel like she would lose him? It felt like he would go somewhere far away, unable to return to her. He hadn't promised her that he would always be there. It occurred to her that he probably didn't have it in him to lie about something they both knew wasn't possible. He would be gone soon, she could feel this inevitable fact in her bones.

Riichi let out a sob, tears she hadn't realized she was holding back now streaming down her face. "Come back," she whispered. "Don't leave me." There was no answer. No mysterious voice whispered in her ear, no figured appeared to tell her it was all going to be alright. Ryouji didn't magically come back to comfort her. She couldn't say she was surprised.

Her crying continued for ten minutes. By the time she calmed down she felt like something had been lifted off her shoulders. It had felt good to let it out. By doing this she had also made it possible to calmly think again.

They still hadn't figured out why they felt they knew each other; wasn't sure why they were so comfortable around the other. That didn't seem to matter anymore though. What mattered was that they were together, even if it was only for a short period of time. Even though it gave Ryouji pain, and herself an acute sense of loss.

Her eyes welled up, and she had to blink away new tears. There was no reason to believe that he was leaving; going so far away that she couldn't even hope to touch him. He had never given any indication that he was, that he _wanted_ to, but they both knew it to be true. That was why their time together today was needed. It was solid proof that they were together, in the same place, imprinting themselves on the other.

Maybe they could run away. Avoid fate, bend it to their wills. This thought brought a chuckle to her lips. Fate didn't bend to the whims of those it toyed with. The team's brush with Ikutsuki was definitive proof of that.

"_A pair of star-crossed lovers, take their life."_

Riichi felt the words tumble out of her lips like poison-tipped swords. For some reason it felt so final that for a moment she thought she might have condemned them to a cursed fate. This feeling passed in favor of another, more lively chuckle. As if she had the power to make their fates that tragic.

This made her think of something though. Didn't their relationship hold some resemblance to Romeo and Juliet? A pair of star-crossed lovers, unable to be together because of forces beyond their control. Sure their families weren't trying to tear them apart, and they weren't preparing to marry in secret, but there were similarities. No one seemed to want them together, if their classmates and friends were any indication, and there was a sense of despair that lingered around them, even though it was chocked out by the overwhelming relief she felt when they were together.

"Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo," she muttered, chuckling as she stood up. The springs of the bed squeaked, as if they found this statement as amusing and ironic as she did. Riichi stepped over to the desk, leaning her weight on it as she peered out her window. Perhaps if she was lucky, she'd be able to watch him, know that though he was walking away from her he was still within reach. Half of her expected a rock to come sailing towards her window, cries of _'Juliet!' _echoing from the street below. That would have been so typical of him.

A violent knocking shocked her out of her musings, and for a moment she was too startled to respond to whoever was outside. It was finally the intruder's voice calling her name that brought her back around. "Coming!" she called, pushing herself off the desk and hurrying over to the door. She turned the knob and opened it to the slightly worried face of Junpei.

"Um, hey," he said. She responded in turn, feeling particularly confused. He was fidgeting, looking wholly uncomfortable in his skin. Riichi thought about inviting him in, but remembered what had just happened in the confines of her room and thought better about it. It felt like all the peace Ryouji had left her would be forced out the window if she let someone intrude.

Junpei fixed the lip of his cap, now making her almost as uncomfortable as he had to be. "Is everything okay?" she finally settled on.

His eyes widened and he shook his head furiously. "No, nonono, everything's fine. I didn't mean that when I…" He stopped himself, seeming to realize that his babbling was only making her even more concerned. "I ran into Ryouji downstairs," he admitted. "We talked for a bit, and then he told me something."

Riichi was really confused now. She wasn't sure what he was getting at, and telling her all of this just seemed pointless. But then he seemed to find resolve, and his posture stiffened. "He told me, to tell you," he explained, focusing his eyes on hers. "He promises he's going to see you tomorrow. Or well, if I quote him word-for-word, _'I swear to intrude upon your window tomorrow my Juliet'."_

This shocked her. Riichi felt like she had just been hit by a brick. This must have registered physically as well, because Junpei himself looked worried. When she had regained control of herself, though she was still pretty shaken, she nodded stiffly before attempting to close the door. Junpei panicked and threw an arm out to catch the door before she had finished shutting it. This was the final action needed to snap her out of it.

"You know, you two disappeared really early today, and everyone else is downstairs, so he was up here with you all this time. Both you and him have been acting really weird lately, even more than usual." She could see where this was going, even before he got to where it would have been obvious, but she figured it wouldn't be in her best interest to interrupt him. "Now he's calling you Juliet and talking about windows. Straight up, are you two, you know, doing it?"

They stood there for a while, Junpei looking more uncomfortable every minute, Riichi simply deciding how she was going to answer this. Finally she settled on something.

"Do you know the story of Romeo and Juliet?"

This took Junpei aback. He obviously hadn't been expecting this. "Well, um, not…really. That was the story about that couple whose families were fighting wasn't it? That's about all I know." He shook his head and scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly.

She couldn't help the smile that graced her lips, however sad it was. "In the end they each commit suicide in order to be with each other." With that hanging in the air, she disappeared back into her room and locked the door behind her.

Riichi glided back over to the bed, pushing herself up on it to lean against the back wall. "How ironic," she muttered, "that you also feel a fate this tragic might potentially await us."

The girl slowly fell sideways, head dropping soundlessly on the mattress. She hadn't managed to fully remake her bed yet, hadn't thought it really mattered. She sucked in a long breath, almost relieved when she realized that her sheets now held his smell.

"Ryouji, are we doomed from the beginning?" She curled herself into a ball, gathering her sheets around her in an attempt to feel as if he was still there with her.

"I love you," she whispered. Riichi was suddenly enveloped with the fear that maybe she had missed her only chance to tell him that. She shook her head, deciding it was silly to have such kinds of feelings. Riichi reached over the side of her bed, pulling her pillow back up in order to shove it under her head. She decided it was in her best interest to just stop thinking about these kinds of things. Ryouji had promised he would see her tomorrow. That was one more day that he would be here. One more day he could spend with her.

"A pair of star crossed lovers huh?" she found herself muttering before she finally drifted off to sleep.


End file.
